Nigeriahttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/nigeria
en-usThu, 17 Aug 2017 23:32:08 -0400Thu, 17 Aug 2017 23:32:08 -0400The latest news on Nigeria from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/nigerian-company-boiled-eggs-colourful-colour-spray-paint-5-weeks-preservation-funtuna-eggs-2017-8A food company is producing colourful boiled eggs that stay fresh for 5 weekshttp://www.businessinsider.com/nigerian-company-boiled-eggs-colourful-colour-spray-paint-5-weeks-preservation-funtuna-eggs-2017-8
Wed, 16 Aug 2017 10:41:56 -0400David Ibekwe
<p>Nigerian food company Funtuna And Bottling Company are producing colourful boiled eggs.</p>
<p>The eggs are sprayed with food colouring, which keeps them fresher for longer, providing a shelf life of up to 5 weeks.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Tolulola Olumide,&nbsp;<span>Funtuna And Bottling Company Executive Director says: "The main reason why the colour is actually used is to coat the egg to help to preserve it, to close all the pores of the egg and help to extend its shelf life.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>"The colours that we put on these&nbsp;eggs&nbsp;are the same colours that you'd find in your cakes, and your sweets and your candies and stuff&nbsp;like that. They are food grade colours, they are completely edible, completely consumable and so they are safe to ingest."</span></p>
<p><span>The eggs are then packed and supplied to six outlets across Lagos, Nigeria.</span></p>
<p><span>The company hopes to increase the egg consumption in the country, which averages to around 80 eggs per person every year.</span></p>
<p><em>Produced by&nbsp;<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/author/david-ibekwe" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">David Ibekwe</a></em></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nigerian-company-boiled-eggs-colourful-colour-spray-paint-5-weeks-preservation-funtuna-eggs-2017-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/gates-zuckerberg-education-program-east-africa-2017-7Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are backing a controversial education program in East Africahttp://www.businessinsider.com/gates-zuckerberg-education-program-east-africa-2017-7
Tue, 11 Jul 2017 11:31:00 -0400Chris Weller
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5963d5cfd9fccd1b008b557e-2054/rtr2evmj.jpg" alt="bill gates" data-mce-source="Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters" /></p><p><a href="https://medium.com/personalizing-the-learning-experience-insights/what-is-personalized-learning-bc874799b6f">"Personalized learning"</a> is one of the trendiest educational theories in Silicon Valley right now.</p>
<p>It involves each student learning at his or her own pace, generally through the aid of technology, and it's beloved by tech billionaires like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.</p>
<p>But both Gates and Zuckerberg, in addition to other big names in Silicon Valley, also back an education model that is taking the opposite approach: pursuing learning gains with curricula standardized to each particular country.</p>
<p>Bridge International Academies, the subject of a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/27/magazine/can-a-tech-start-up-successfully-educate-children-in-the-developing-world.html">recent New York Times Magazine piece</a>, operates in hundreds of schools around Kenya and Uganda, with dozens more of its low-cost schools scattered through Nigeria, India, and most recently Liberia.</p>
<p>Though it operates with the mission of providing high-quality, low-cost education for all, Bridge has drawn criticism from some education experts and teachers unions for the model it uses to make good on that mission.</p>
<p>Bridge schools employ&nbsp;local teachers to use digital, pre-written lesson plans that get distributed across the company's international web of instructors. The percentage of teachers that must be certified varies by country, a Bridge spokesperson said. In Kenya, 30% must be certified. The spokesperson said 51% of their teachers meet that mark.</p>
<p>All Bridge students in a given country receive the same education at the same time &mdash; something personalized learning advocates generally shun as inefficient or, worse, ineffective.</p>
<p>By 2015, Bridge had raised $100 million, the Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/startup-aims-to-provide-a-bridge-to-education-1426275737">reported</a>. The money came in part from Gates and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a company formed by Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan to give away 99% of their Facebook shares in order to advance science and education. In addition, the Omidyar Network, the World Bank, venture capital firms, and the hedge fund Pershing Square have jumped onboard.</p>
<p>But even Gates, a vocal advocate for uplifting those in the developing world, has said the old-school model of education doesn't always cut it.</p>
<p><span>"It's amazing how little the typical classroom has changed over the years," the former Microsoft CEO <a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/Education/Why-I-Love-This-Cutting-Edge-School-Design">wrote</a> on his blog, Gates Notes. For centuries, teachers all over the world have lectured at the front of the room to students seated in rows. </span></p>
<p><span>"This system was designed decades ago," Gates continued, "and it doesn't reflect what educators have learned about helping students and teachers do their best work," namely, that students learn far more effectively when their instruction is tailored to their specific needs. (Gates was not available for comment on this story.)</span></p>
<p>The personalized learning philosophy <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/personalized-education-special-ed-2016-10">underpinned special-education</a> when it began more than 40 years ago, and it continues to work its way through&nbsp;in public schools around the US. Zuckerberg, too, <a href="http://time.com/4132619/mark-zuckerberg-personalized-learning/">has endorsed personalized learning</a> time and again as the superior approach to instruction.</p>
<p>The fact Gates and Zuckerberg support Bridge financially likely reflects their primary goal of lifting the poor out of&nbsp;poverty. Smaller details about the specific style are perhaps immaterial if the data show the method is working. Bridge has data to back it up.</p>
<p><span>In 2015, the company <a href="http://www.bridgeinternationalacademies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Bridge-International-Academies_White-Paper_The-Bridge-Effect_Nov-2014_Website.pdf">published</a> a white paper that found among 2,737 students in kindergarten, first, and second grades, Bridge kids produced twice and sometimes three times the gains in reading and math compared to kids in public school.</span></p>
<p><span>Critics point to a host of other facts as drawbacks, however. Cost is the first and perhaps highest barrier, since Bridge calls on parents to pay for tuition, lunch, and, in certain cases, school supplies. The school network has high attrition rates and numerous cases of families defaulting or falling behind on tuition payments.</span></p>
<p><span>Bridge founder Shannon May told the New York Times Magazine that her company is considering partnerships with microfinancing firms to help families defray the costs.</span></p>
<p><span>An advocate for a&nbsp;local teachers union also expressed concern to the New York Times Magazine about the quality of the education, arguing Bridge focuses less on getting poor students to the baseline as enticing public school students to switch to Bridge schools. </span></p>
<p><span>In December of 2016, secretary-general Wilson Sossion and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) <a href="http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2016/12/15/parents-teachers-want-sossion-onslaught-on-bridge-schools-stopped_c1474050">published</a> a negative report of Bridge, saying the company was operating an illegal for-profit business. Earlier this June, Bridge <a href="http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/corporate/Low-cost-schools-chain-sues-Knut-for-defamation/539550-3983412-tiym1y/index.html">sued</a> Knut and Sossion for defamation.</span></p>
<p><span>But true to the Silicon Valley mindset praised by people like Gates and Zuckerberg, the model seems to be filling a genuine market need. Bridge is on track to educate 4.1 million kids by 2022, with yearly revenue of $470 million.</span></p>
<p><em>Correction: This article has been updated to more accurately reflect&nbsp;how many teachers are&nbsp;certified to teach in Bridge schools.</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/netflixs-ceo-backs-math-education-program-2017-6" >Netflix's CEO backs a math education program that works like the streaming service</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gates-zuckerberg-education-program-east-africa-2017-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/waterless-toilet-future-backed-bill-gates-foundation-2017-5">Bill Gates is backing the waterless toilet of the future — here's how it works</a></p> http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/news/oil-price-falls-as-opec-production-jumps-2017-6-1002089278Oil falls as OPEC production jumpshttp://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/news/oil-price-falls-as-opec-production-jumps-2017-6-1002089278
Tue, 13 Jun 2017 09:22:00 -0400Seth Archer
<p><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/news/oil-rig-count-baker-hughes-june-9-2017-6-1002082800">Oil</a> is falling after OPEC increased oil production despite last month's agreement to extend production cuts.&nbsp;<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?type=WTI">West Texas Intermediate crude oil</a>&nbsp;trades down 0.24% at $45.89 a barrel early Tuesday.</p>
<p>Libya and Nigeria led the 336,100 barrels a day bump in production, as the countries are exempt from the <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/news/wti-oil-price-falling-after-us-withdraw-from-paris-climate-accord-2017-6-1002063823">production cuts</a>&nbsp;that were announced in May. The two countries increased their production to recover reduced&nbsp;supplies due to political&nbsp;turmoil.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.opec.org/opec_web/static_files_project/media/downloads/publications/MOMR%20June%202017.pdf">A report by OPEC also points to a recent increase in US oil supplies</a> as a reason for a slide in oil prices. Last week, the number of oil rigs in the US increased for the <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/news/oil-rig-count-baker-hughes-june-9-2017-6-1002082800">21st straight week last week</a>, setting a record.</p>
<p>"Oil has been weighed down by the market's impatience with the generally slow pace of the inventory drawdown globally," the OPEC report said.</p>
<p>Despite the increase, OPEC still predicts a contraction of supply in 2017 and early 2018. The production cuts announced by OPEC disappointed&nbsp;investors last month as they were <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/news/wti-oil-price-falling-after-us-withdraw-from-paris-climate-accord-2017-6-1002063823">a continuation of the previous announcement </a>and did not go any further.</p>
<p>WTI is down about&nbsp;5.3% over the past&nbsp;year.&nbsp;</p>
<h2><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?type=WTI">Click here to read more about the price of oil...</a></h2>
<p><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?type=WTI"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/593fe3cfc4adee1c008b5817-869/screen shot 2017-06-13 at 90754 am.jpg" alt="price of oil wti" data-mce-source="Markets Insider" data-link="http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?type=WTI"></a></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/news/oil-price-getting-demolished-inventories-swell-2017-6-1002075043" >Oil is getting demolished after inventories unexpectedly swell</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/news/oil-price-falls-as-opec-production-jumps-2017-6-1002089278#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-new-record-highs-2017-7">Stocks have shrugged off Trump headlines to hit new highs this week</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-nigeria-adrift-as-leader-in-london-for-month-of-treatment-2017-6Nigeria is adrift as President Muhammadu Buhari receives medical treatment in London for a monthhttp://www.businessinsider.com/ap-nigeria-adrift-as-leader-in-london-for-month-of-treatment-2017-6
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 08:42:00 -0400Krista Mahr
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55168b7f6da8115b28bc1df3-2400/muhammadu-buhari-c-presidential-candidate-nigeria-1.jpg" alt="Muhammadu Buhari (C), presidential candidate Nigeria" data-mce-source="Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde" data-mce-caption="Muhammadu Buhari (C), presidential candidate from the All Progressives Congress party, speaks to supporters during a campaign rally in Gombe February 3, 2015."></p><p>LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria, West Africa's economic and military powerhouse, is adrift as President Muhammadu Buhari has been in London for medical treatment for a month as of Wednesday, worrying many that his undisclosed health problems have left Africa's most populous country without strong direction.</p>
<p>The president's prolonged absence has created "a vacuum," said Dapo Alaba Sobowale, the head of a small IT company in Lagos' sprawling Computer Village, where small shops and vendors line the streets selling mobile phones and computer gadgets.</p>
<p>"A lot of people are relying on him," Sobowale said. He said he isn't bothered about who, exactly, is sitting in office. "I'm bothered about the person being there making the right choices," he said.</p>
<p>Buhari, 74, went on medical leave to the United Kingdom on May 7 for unspecified health problems. He had already been in London for nearly seven weeks earlier this year for treatment. He looked thin and frail when he returned to Nigeria, where he later missed three consecutive weekly Cabinet meetings. On his return, he said he'd never been as sick in his life.</p>
<p>Government officials and Buhari's family have sought to reassure Nigerians who have expressed their worry about his absence on social media under hashtags like #WhereIsBuhari and #MissingPresident.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, Aisha Buhari, the president's wife, said her husband is "recuperating fast" after she returned to Nigeria from visiting him in London. "He thanks Nigerians for their constant prayers for his health &amp; steadfastness in the face of challenges," she tweeted.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/562a33ac9dd7cc1b008c43e4-711/without-a-cabinet-nigeria-is-stuck-on-hold.jpg" alt="President Muhammadu Buhari arrives at the Margaret Ekpo international airport in Calabar to commission the construction of a new superhihgway in Cross river state, Nigeria, October 20, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer " data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="President Buhari arrives at the Margaret Ekpo international airport in Calabar"></p>
<p>Buhari's long absences this year have raised questions over whether the former military leader from northern Nigeria will be able to complete his four-year term that is up in 2019 and kicked off speculation over who might succeed him.</p>
<p>This is especially important in Nigeria because an unwritten agreement maintains the presidency should alternate between the Muslim-majority north and Christian-dominated south. Nigeria's 170 million people are almost evenly divided between Christians and Muslims.</p>
<p>Buhari was elected in 2015 after defeating incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, a southerner, on campaign promises to battle corruption and crack down on Boko Haram extremists in the nation's northeast. Buhari's administration, which marked two years in office on May 29, has a mixed track record of fulfilling those promises, analysts say.</p>
<p>Although the military has dislodged Boko Haram from areas where it had declared a caliphate, Nigeria's homegrown Islamic extremists continue to carry out suicide bombings and attacks. A rail-thin Buhari welcomed 82 Chibok schoolgirls who were released by Boko Haram in May after three years in captivity and then he flew to London that night.</p>
<p>This is not the first time Nigeria has experienced an ailing, absent president. In 2010 President Umaru Yar'Adua died after being out of the country for medical treatment for several months.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/551ad7f2eab8eae97c285bd6-2044/buhari.jpg" alt="Buhari" data-mce-source="Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters" data-mce-caption="All Progressives Congresses presidential candidate and Nigeria's former military ruler Muhammodu Buhari (C) casts his vote in Daura, March 28, 2015"></p>
<p>Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, now acting president, is credited for bringing some momentum back to the government by easing tensions in the insecure, oil-producing Niger Delta and pledging to tackle an economy battered by the fall in global oil prices.</p>
<p>"There was an element of fatigue when it came to Buhari," said Malte Liewerscheidt, senior Africa analyst for risk management firm Verisk Maplecroft. "He wasn't acting on the big macroeconomic issues."</p>
<p>However, if Osinbajo, who comes from Lagos in the south, were to take over for Buhari and stand for election in 2019, the move could be seen by northerners as threatening the power-sharing balance and potentially prompt unwelcome political unrest, observers say.</p>
<p>Buhari's absence has highlighted the sense that his government is unable to get this powerful oil-producing nation back on track, critics say.</p>
<p>"It looks like we are rudderless," said Dr. Jay Osi Samuels of the Alliance for New Nigeria, a group of professionals registering as a new political party. "Right now it seems like (politicians) have lost the idea of how to move the&nbsp;country forward."</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/587805deee14b62a008b80a4-2400/ap17012487452215.jpg" alt="Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is welcomed by Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari." data-mce-source="Azeez Akunleyan/AP Photo" data-mce-caption="Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is welcomed by Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari." data-link="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Nigeria-China-Taiwan/13f88ca39a4149338e11ec54a320d5c3/1/0"></p>
<p>In Computer Village, mobile phone shop owner Williams Akah and a few customers said the majority of people in Lagos are struggling with Nigeria's recent economic downturn, especially when it comes to finding decent work in this megacity.</p>
<p>Akah doesn't know exactly what's wrong with Buhari, but he said he's keeping track of what happens to him: "I'm worried about him - he's the Number One citizen."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Mahr's reporting in Nigeria was supported by the International Reporting Project.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-buhari-to-be-sworn-in-as-nigerian-president-2015-5" >Nigeria's ousted dictator will be sworn in as its first democratically elected president today</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-nigeria-adrift-as-leader-in-london-for-month-of-treatment-2017-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/andew-zimmern-biggest-mistake-eating-steak-bizzare-foods-travel-channel-2017-7">The biggest mistake everyone makes when eating steak, according to Andrew Zimmern</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/boko-haram-released-82-kidnapped-girls-to-their-families-2017-5Boko Haram released 82 kidnapped girls to their familieshttp://www.businessinsider.com/boko-haram-released-82-kidnapped-girls-to-their-families-2017-5
Mon, 22 May 2017 22:52:00 -0400Lekan Oyekanmi
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/571feadb52bcd025008bf1d9-2400/rtr4m2sy.jpg" alt="boko haram rescue yola" data-mce-source="Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde" data-mce-caption="A girl displaced as a result of Boko Haram attack in the northeast region of Nigeria, rests her head on a desk at Maikohi secondary school camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) in Yola, Adamawa State Jan. 13, 2015."></p><p>ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The 82 Nigerian schoolgirls recently released after more than three years&nbsp;in Boko Haram<span style="color: red;"> </span>captivity reunited with their families Saturday as anxious parents looked for signs of how deeply the extremists had changed their daughters' lives.</p>
<p>Brightly dressed families rushed through the crowd in the capital, Abuja, and embraced. One small group sank to their knees, with a woman raising her hands as if praising in church. Some danced. Others were in tears.</p>
<p>"I am really happy today, I am Christmas and new year, I am very happy and I thank God," said mother Godiya Joshua, whose daughter Esther was among those freed.</p>
<p>This month's release was the largest liberation of hostages since 276 Chibok schoolgirls were abducted from their boarding school in 2014. Five commanders from the extremist group were exchanged for the girls' freedom, and Nigeria's government has said it would make further exchanges to bring the 113 remaining schoolgirls home.</p>
<p>"Our joy is never complete until we see the complete 113, because one Chibok girl matters to all Chibok people," said a parent of one of the freed schoolgirls, Yahi Bwata.</p>
<p>Many of the girls, most of them Christians, were forced to marry extremists and have had children. Some have been radicalized and have refused to return. It is feared that some have been used in suicide bombings.</p>
<p>The mass abduction in April 2014 brought international attention to Boko Haram's&nbsp;deadly insurgency in northern Nigeria, and it launched a global Bring Back Our Girls campaign that drew the backing of some celebrities, including former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama. Thousands have been kidnapped during the extremists' eight-year insurgency, and more than 20,000 have been killed.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57a21074db5ce949188b468a-2400/rtr4tzo2.jpg" alt="boko haram" data-mce-source="Reuters/Emmanuel Braun" data-mce-caption="Nigerian soldiers hold up a Boko Haram flag that they had seized in the recently retaken town of Damasak, Nigeria, March 18, 2015."></p>
<p>The release of the 82 schoolgirls this month came after an initial group of 21 girls was released in October. Nigeria's government has acknowledged negotiating&nbsp;with Boko Haram&nbsp;for their release, with mediation help from the Swiss government and the International Committee of the Red Cross.</p>
<p>The two groups of freed schoolgirls reunited earlier Saturday, Nigeria's Channels TV reported, showing the young women laughing and embracing.</p>
<p>Since the latest release, many families in the remote Chibok community had been waiting for word on whether their daughters were among them. A government list of names circulated, and parents were asked to confirm the freed girls' identities through photos.</p>
<p>Both groups of freed girls have been in government care in the capital as part of a nine-month reintegration program that President Muhammadu Buhari has said he will oversee personally. But human rights groups have criticized the government for keeping the young women so long in the capital, far from their homes.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Bashir Adigun in Abuja, Nigeria contributed.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/boko-haram-kills-18-women-funeral-nigeria-2016-6" >Boko Haram kills 18 women at a funeral in northern Nigeria</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/boko-haram-released-82-kidnapped-girls-to-their-families-2017-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-7-people-arya-stark-kill-list-game-of-thrones-hbo-deaths-prayer-2017-8">Here's everyone left on Arya Stark's kill list on 'Game of Thrones'</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/r-82-chibok-girls-kidnapped-by-boko-haram-are-released-nigerian-officials-2017-582 Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram are released, Nigerian officials sayhttp://www.businessinsider.com/r-82-chibok-girls-kidnapped-by-boko-haram-are-released-nigerian-officials-2017-5
Sat, 06 May 2017 17:18:00 -0400
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5710063d91058425008bcc6c-2400/ap643396158215.jpg" alt="bring back our girls" data-mce-source="Associated Press/Olamikan Gbemiga" data-mce-caption="People attend a demonstration calling on the government to rescue the kidnapped girls of the government secondary school in Chibok, in Abuja, Nigeria, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014."></p><p>ABUJA (Reuters) - Boko Haram militants have released 82 schoolgirls out of a group of more than 200 who they kidnapped from the northeastern town of Chibok in April 2014, officials said on Saturday.</p>
<p>The girls were released through negotiations with the government, one official said, asking not to be named.</p>
<p>A military source said the girls were currently in Banki near the Cameroon border for medical checks before being airlifted to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.</p>
<p>The kidnapping was one of the high-profile incidents of Boko Haram's insurgency, now in its eighth year and with little sign of ending. About 220 were abducted from their school in a night-time attack.</p>
<p>More than 20 girls were released last October in a deal brokered by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Others have escaped or been rescued, but 195 were believed to be still in captivity prior to this release.</p>
<p>Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said last month the government was in talks to secure the release of the remaining captives.</p>
<p>Although the Chibok girls are the most high-profile case, Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of adults and children, many of whose cases have been neglected.</p>
<p>The militants have killed more than 20,000 people and displaced more than 2 million during their insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria.</p>
<p>Despite the army saying the insurgency is on the run, large parts of the northeast, particularly in Borno state, remain under threat from the militants, and suicide bombings and gun attacks have increased in the region since the end of the rainy season late last year.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Felix Onuah, Tife Owolabi, Ahmed Kingimi and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Hugh Lawson)</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-82-chibok-girls-kidnapped-by-boko-haram-are-released-nigerian-officials-2017-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-celebrities-look-like-symmetrical-faces-2017-7">Here’s what celebrities would look like with symmetrical faces</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/boko-haram-nigeria-health-services-2017-5How Boko Haram is devastating health services in Northeast Nigeriahttp://www.businessinsider.com/boko-haram-nigeria-health-services-2017-5
Wed, 03 May 2017 21:18:00 -0400Felix Abrahams Obi and Ejemai Eboreime
<p><em><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/559735716bb3f7127448c032-2400/ap695150819769.jpg" alt="Boko Haram" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Jossy Ola" data-mce-caption="In this Monday, June 22, 2015 file photo, debris at the site of a suicide bomb attack at a market in Maiduguri, Nigeria.">Several towns in the north-eastern region of Nigeria have been overrun by Boko Haram militants, who are engaged in <a href="https://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-explaining-nigerias-boko-haram-and-its-violent-insurgency/">violent clashes</a> with authorities. </em></p>
<p><em>Millions have been displaced and in May 2013, Nigeria declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. </em></p>
<p><em>Health services in the region have been severely affected. Felix Obi and Ejemai Eboreime shed light on the situation.</em></p>
<p><strong>Which areas are being affected by Boko Haram and how many people are at the centre of it?</strong></p>
<p>The Boko Haram insurgency, which began in 2009, has mostly affected people living in Nigeria’s north-eastern states. One of them Borno state has been at the epicentre of the insurgency.</p>
<p>To date more than 20,000 people have been killed and over 2 million people have fled their homes. There are over <a href="http://www.unocha.org/nigeria/about-ocha-nigeria/about-crisis">7 million people</a> in need of humanitarian assistance in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states – and more than half are children.</p>
<p><strong>What effect is this having on health services?</strong></p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5546500beab8ea4c4e0e9b48-1336/boko-haram-survivors-women-child-girl.jpg" alt="Boko Haram Survivors Women Child Girl" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Joe Penney" data-mce-caption="A girl drinks water as women queue for blankets and food given out by Nigerien soldiers in Damasak March 24, 2015.">Even before the insurgency, North-East Nigeria had some of the worst health and <a href="https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/system/files/documents/files/pine-_the_north_east_err_plan_-_full_-_pine_-_july_2015_2015_2020.pdf">socioeconomic indices</a> in the country. This is against the backdrop of a weak health system marked by inadequate health facilities and a dearth of skilled health workers. There’s also little donor support compared with other regions of Nigeria.</p>
<p>The insurgency has compounded these problems and also disrupted what health services there were.</p>
<p>Insurgents have destroyed about 788 health facilities in the region. In Borno 48 health workers have been killed and over 250 injured. The state has lost up to 40% of its facilities and <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-security-who-idUSKBN1431IM">only a third</a> of those left in Borno state remain functional.</p>
<p>Attrition rates of health workers have also played a role. Over the past two years Borno state has lost <a href="http://leadership.ng/news/480463/insurgency-28-health-workers-killed-445-facilities-destroyed">35% of its doctors</a> to other states.</p>
<p>Insecurity in the areas occupied by the insurgents also make planning and delivering essential health interventions difficult. Resources in camps for internally displaced people have been overstretched, with humanitarian agencies providing most of the health services.</p>
<p><strong>What impact has this had on people?</strong></p>
<p>There are several health consequences. Over 2 million people have been displaced due to the conflict and live in camps for internally displaced people scattered across the North-East Nigeria. Some have gone as far as Abuja and beyond to southern states like Edo.</p>
<p>Overcrowding and poor hygiene in the camps have made them potential spots for <a href="http://www.msf.org/en/article/nigeria-cholera-spreads-displaced-persons-camps-borno-state">recurrent outbreaks of diseases</a> like cholera. There are also many cases of acute malnutrition. Deaths from <a href="http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nutrition-and-food-security-surveillance-north-east-nigeria-emergency-survey-final">malnutrition</a> occur frequently.</p>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/65751/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" async="async"></script><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-nigeria-thwarts-boko-haram-plan-to-attack-us-uk-embassies-2017-4" >Nigeria says it thwarted a Boko Haram plot to attack US and UK embassies</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/boko-haram-nigeria-health-services-2017-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/details-game-of-thrones-season-7-episode-4-hbo-jon-snow-daenerys-2017-8">8 details you might have missed on season 7 episode 4 of 'Game of Thrones'</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-boko-haram-leader-shekau-injured-in-air-strike-2017-5Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau has been injured in an air strikehttp://www.businessinsider.com/afp-boko-haram-leader-shekau-injured-in-air-strike-2017-5
Wed, 03 May 2017 08:48:00 -0400Aminu Abubkar
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/571fec7752bcd021008bf147-2400/rtr4tzo2.jpg" alt="boko haram" data-mce-source="Reuters/Emmanuel Braun" data-mce-caption="Nigerian soldiers hold up a Boko Haram flag that they had seized in the recently retaken town of Damasak, Nigeria, March 18, 2015."></p><p>Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau has been injured and one of his deputies killed in an air strike in northeast Nigeria, civilian and security sources told AFP on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Two Nigerian Air Force jets bombarded fighters who had gathered for prayers in Balla village, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Damboa, on the edge of the Sambisa Forest, last Friday.</p>
<p>"Shekau was wounded in the bombings and is believed to be receiving treatment near the Nigerian border with Cameroon around Kolofata," said one source with contacts within Boko Haram.</p>
<p>"His deputy, Abba Mustapha, alias Malam Abba, was killed in the attack along with another key lieutenant, Abubakar Gashua, alias Abu Aisha," he added.</p>
<p>Babakura Kolo, a member of the civilian militia in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, gave a similar account, saying "Shekau was injured and a number of commanders were killed.</p>
<p>"Among them is his deputy called Malam Abba. They suffered heavy casualties because the bombings targeted a large gathering of his followers attending Friday prayers."</p>
<p>There was no immediate comment from the Nigerian military when contacted by AFP. The authorities have previously claimed to have killed Shekau on at least three occasions.</p>
<p>In an emailed statement on Tuesday night, the air force said it had bombed "a gathering of Boko Haram terrorists" last Friday "in a village 3.42 km northeast of Mangosum".</p>
<p>The "air interdiction mission" in the remote region involved three jets.</p>
<p>"Battle damage assessment conducted after the strike showed that several leaders of the Boko Haram terrorist organisation and their followers were killed during the attacks," it added.</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55bada082acae732118bb9b5-1676/ap432131113206.jpg" alt="boko haram" data-mce-source="Boko Haram/AP" data-mce-caption="An image taken from video released late Friday evening, Oct. 31, 2014, by Boko Haram. Abubakar Shekau, centre, is the leader of Nigeria's Islamic extremist group."></p>
<h2>Reprisals</h2>
<p>A senior military officer in Maiduguri confirmed the air force bombed Boko Haram positions "in the Damboa area on Friday where they hit the targets with precision".</p>
<p>"We got intel (intelligence) that the terrorists were gathering at the location and we acted on the report," he added, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak about the operation.</p>
<p>He said he was unable to comment on Shekau but the source with contacts in Boko Haram said Mustapha was preaching when the first jet bombed the mosque at about 1:00 pm (1200 GMT).</p>
<p>Moments later a second jet targeted worshippers as they fled.</p>
<p>"Shekau was just leaving a house nearby for the mosque when the first jet struck. He was injured in the second strike," said the source, describing the casualties as "huge".</p>
<p>"They spent the rest of Friday and the whole of Saturday burying the dead," he said, without specifying numbers.</p>
<p>Shekau had been bed-ridden for days with malaria before the attack, he added.</p>
<p>Local people in the Konduga area said Boko Haram fighters went on the rampage following the air strike.</p>
<p>"They came by the river hurling insults at us, accusing us of providing information about their locations and movements to the military," said fisherman Ibrahim Bawa.</p>
<p>"They said we were responsible for the attack on their mosque which killed many of their people. They were very angry," added another fisherman, Usman Sallau.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/561fb13aecad0451374c289b-2400/boko-haram-20.jpg" alt="Boko Haram" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Emmanuel Braun" data-mce-caption="Chadian soldiers push a military pickup truck to get it out of the sand near the front line in the war against insurgent group Boko Haram in Gambaru, Nigeria, February 26, 2015."></p>
<p>The jihadists rounded up six fishermen and slit their throats. Others escaped by swimming across the river, he said.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Boko Haram has killed over 20,000 people since it took up arms against the Nigerian government in 2009 to establish a hardline Islamist state.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The insurgency has decimated northeast Borno state with the violence displacing 2.6 million from their homes and causing a hunger crisis.&nbsp;</p>
<p>After years of suffering humiliating losses to Boko Haram, the Nigerian military has reclaimed swathes of territory back from the jihadists.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Yet despite claims that Boko Haram is a spent force, the Islamists still launch attacks.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nigerian-army-captures-boko-haram-stronghold-2016-12" >The Nigerian army has captured one of Boko Haram's last strongholds</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-boko-haram-leader-shekau-injured-in-air-strike-2017-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/whats-inside-pimple-pus-bacteria-acne-2017-8">All the nasty things inside a pimple — and why you should stop popping them</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/r-armed-attacks-on-ships-in-west-african-waters-rise-report-2017-5Pirate attacks in West African waters nearly doubled in 2016http://www.businessinsider.com/r-armed-attacks-on-ships-in-west-african-waters-rise-report-2017-5
Tue, 02 May 2017 09:11:00 -0400Joe Bavier
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/58c956a66ad50a58018b4eff-2400/ap397684140766.jpg" alt="somali pirates" data-mce-source="AP"></p><p>ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Armed attacks on ships in West African waters nearly doubled in 2016, with pirates increasingly focused on kidnapping their crew for ransom off Nigeria's coast, a report said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>A recent spate of attacks off Somalia, meanwhile, may also indicate a resurgence of piracy in East Africa as a result of less vigilance, the Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) project said.</p>
<p>OBP, a project of the privately funded One Earth Future Foundation that encourages cooperation across the international maritime community to tackle piracy, recorded 95 attacks in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea in 2016, up from 54 the previous year.</p>
<p>Cargo theft, once the main focus of piracy in the region, has given way to an increase in kidnappings, with 96 crew members taken hostage compared to 44 in 2015.</p>
<p>OBP estimated the total economic cost of maritime crime in West Africa at nearly $794 million.</p>
<p>"One of the reasons we are observing increased incidents of kidnap for ransom is that the model offers financial gain with less risk to the perpetrators than hijacking for cargo theft," said Maisie Pigeon, one of the authors of the OBP report.</p>
<p>Only one successful hijacking - the product tanker Maximus, which was attacked in February off Abidjan, Ivory Coast and then sailed to Nigeria - was recorded in West Africa by OBP in 2016.</p>
<p>"Nigeria ... experienced a spike in attacks, including 18 kidnap for ransom attacks between March and May," it said. "Analysts suggest that this pattern is closely linked to militant attacks against the oil and gas infrastructure in the Niger Delta."</p>
<h2>Pirate Networks</h2>
<p>West Africa has emerged as the world's epicenter for piracy in recent years after increased patrolling by international navies and ramped up on-board security largely succeeded in suppressing hijackings off the Horn of Africa.</p>
<p>However, those efforts are expensive. OBP estimated the total cost of counter-piracy operations in the western Indian Ocean at $1.7 billion last year.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/58c7f2886ad50a58018b473c-731/undefined" alt="afp somali pirates suspected of staging first attack since" data-mce-source="AFP"></p>
<p>As Somali piracy has ebbed, navies have redeployed elsewhere and shipping companies cut back on private security, with a 12.5 percent decline in the number of vessels using armed guards through 2016, with 31.5 percent employing them by December.</p>
<p>But armed attacks beginning late last year, including the first successful hijackings since 2015, are a reminder that the region remains vulnerable, the report said.</p>
<p>"Pirate networks in Somalia still possess the intent and capability to commit acts of piracy," it said.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>(Editing by Alexander Smith)</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/worst-pirate-attack-locations-esri-data-2016-8" >The top 10 places where you could be attacked by pirates</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-armed-attacks-on-ships-in-west-african-waters-rise-report-2017-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/whats-inside-pimple-pus-bacteria-acne-2017-8">All the nasty things inside a pimple — and why you should stop popping them</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-to-sell-attack-planes-to-nigeria-to-help-fight-boko-haram-2017-4Trump to sell attack planes to Nigeria to support fight against Boko Haramhttp://www.businessinsider.com/trump-to-sell-attack-planes-to-nigeria-to-help-fight-boko-haram-2017-4
Thu, 13 Apr 2017 16:53:17 -0400
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/58efbf0e5124c9a714e15126-800" alt="FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the National Republican Congressional Committee March Dinner in Washington, U.S., March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo " data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the National Republican Congressional Committee March Dinner in Washington, March 21, 2017."></p><p></p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration will move forward with the sale of high-tech aircraft to <span>Nigeria</span> for its campaign against Boko Haram Islamic extremists despite concerns over abuses committed by the African nation's security forces, according to U.S. officials.</p>
<p>Congress is expected to receive formal notification within weeks, setting in motion a deal with <span>Nigeria</span> that the Obama administration had planned to approve at the very end of Barack Obama's presidency.</p>
<p>The arrangement will call for <span>Nigeria</span> to purchase up to 12 Embraer A-29 Super Tucano aircraft with sophisticated targeting gear for nearly $600 million, one of the officials said.</p>
<p>The officials were not authorized to discuss the terms of the sale publicly and requested anonymity to speak about internal diplomatic conversations.</p>
<p>Though President Donald Trump has made clear his intention to approve the sale of the aircraft, the National Security Council is still working on the issue. Military sales to several other countries are also expected to be approved but are caught up in an ongoing White House review. <span>Nigeria</span> has been trying to buy the aircraft since 2015.</p>
<p>The Nigerian air force has been accused of bombing civilian targets at least three times in recent years.</p>
<p>In the worst incident, a fighter jet on Jan. 17 repeatedly bombed a camp at Rann, near the border with Cameroon, where civilians had fled from Boko Haram. Between 100 and 236 civilians and aid workers were killed, according to official and community leaders' counts.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/57768dab5124c9270dd29d15-800" alt="Children displaced as a result of Boko Haram attacks in the northeast region of Nigeria, cheer at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) in Yola, Adamawa State January 13, 2015. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="Children displaced as a result of Boko Haram attacks in the northeast region of Nigeria, cheer at an IDP camp in Yola"></p>
<p>That bombing occurred on the same day the Obama administration intended to officially notify Congress the sale would go forward. Instead, it was abruptly put on hold, according to an individual who worked on the issue during Obama's presidency. Days later, Trump was inaugurated.</p>
<p>Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said this past week that he supported the A-29 deal to <span>Nigeria</span> as well as the sale of U.S.-made fighter jets to Bahrain that had been stripped of human rights caveats imposed by the Obama administration.</p>
<p>Under Obama, the U.S. said Bahrain failed to make promised political and human rights reforms after its Sunni-ruled government crushed Arab Spring protests five years ago.</p>
<p>"We need to deal with human rights issues, but not on weapons sales," Corker said.</p>
<p>The State Department said in a 2016 report that the Nigerian government has taken "few steps to investigate or prosecute officials who committed violations, whether in the security forces or elsewhere in the government, and impunity remained widespread at all levels of government."</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/57c0200b5124c93c739ec702-800" alt="The Nigerian military parades weapons and some suspected members of the Niger Delta Avengers after their arrest in the Nembe waters, Rivers, Nigeria, August 22, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="The Nigerian military parades weapons and some suspected members of the Niger Delta Avengers after their arrest in the Nembe waters, Rivers, Nigeria"></p>
<p>Amnesty International has accused <span>Nigeria's</span> military of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the extrajudicial killings of an estimated 8,000 Boko Haram suspects. President Muhammadu Buhari promised to investigate the alleged abuses after he won office in March 2015, but no soldier has been prosecuted and thousands of people remain in illegal military detention. <span>Nigeria's</span> military has denied the allegations.</p>
<p>The A-29 sale would improve the U.S. relationship with <span>Nigeria</span>, Africa's largest consumer market of 170 million people, the continent's biggest economy and its second-largest oil producer. <span>Nigeria</span> also is strategically located on the edge of the Sahel, the largely lawless semi-desert region bridging north and sub-Saharan Africa where experts warn Islamic extremists like the Nigeria-based Boko Haram may expand their reach.</p>
<p>The aircraft deal also would satisfy Trump's priorities to support nations fighting Islamic uprisings, boost U.S. manufacturing and create high-wage jobs at home. The A-29 aircraft, which allow pilots to pinpoint targets at night, are assembled in Jacksonville, Florida.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/58c2ceb25124c91023ace2e3-800" alt="FILE PHOTO: People walk inside the Muna Internally displace people camp in Maiduguri, Nigeria December 1, 2016 REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="FILE PHOTO: People walk inside the Muna Internally displace people camp in Maiduguri, Nigeria"></p>
<p>"It's hard to argue that any country in Africa is more important than <span>Nigeria</span> for the geopolitical and other strategic interests of the U.S.," said J. Peter Pham, vice president of the Atlantic Council in Washington and head of its Africa Center.</p>
<p>Once Congress is officially notified of the sale, lawmakers who want to derail it have 30 days to pass veto-proof legislation.</p>
<p>That's a high hurdle given Corker's support. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, also said he backs the sale.</p>
<p>"We've really got to try to do what we can to contain them," McCain said of Boko Haram.</p>
<p>In Trump's first phone call with Buhari in February, he "assured the Nigerian president of U.S. readiness to cut a new deal in helping <span>Nigeria</span> in terms of military weapons to combat terrorism," according to Buhari's office.</p>
<p>A Feb. 15 White House statement that provided a summary of the call said "President Trump expressed support for the sale of aircraft from the United States to support <span>Nigeria's</span> fight against Boko Haram."</p>
<p>Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said in mid-February he was "leery" of the sale because of the Nigerian military's impunity. Cardin said this week he's not trying to block the deal.</p>
<p>"Ultimately we hope that the sale goes forward," he said. "But there is progress that needs to be made in protecting the civilian population."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Reporting by Richard Lardner; Michelle Faul reported from Johannesburg, South Africa. Associated Press writer Josh Lederman contributed to this report.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-air-force-considering-stop-loss-to-keep-pilots-2017-4" >If the US Air Force can't stop losing pilots, it may force them to stay</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-to-sell-attack-planes-to-nigeria-to-help-fight-boko-haram-2017-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-massive-dreamlifter-takeoff-747-plane-parts-world-2017-1">Here's the massive cargo jet Boeing uses to carry plane parts around the world</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-nigeria-thwarts-boko-haram-plan-to-attack-us-uk-embassies-2017-4Nigeria says it thwarted a Boko Haram plot to attack US and UK embassieshttp://www.businessinsider.com/ap-nigeria-thwarts-boko-haram-plan-to-attack-us-uk-embassies-2017-4
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 08:04:35 -0400
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/58ee27fc8af578501f8b5191-2400/undefined" alt="boko haram" data-mce-source="Reuters/Emmanuel Braun" data-mce-caption="Nigerian soldiers hold up a Boko Haram flag that they had seized in the recently retaken town of Damasak, Nigeria, March 18, 2015."></p><p>ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian security officials say they have thwarted plans by Islamic State group-linked Boko Haram members to attack the embassies of the United States and Britain.</p>
<p>A statement Wednesday by the Department of State Services says that late last month it broke up a ring that had "perfected plans to attack" the embassies along with "other Western interests" in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.</p>
<p>The statement says five suspects were arrested. It gives no further details.</p>
<p>One faction of Boko Haram is allied with the Islamic State group.</p>
<p>Nigeria's president late last year declared the Boko Haram insurgency "crushed," but its fighters continue to threaten the vast region around Lake Chad in defiance of a multinational force. It has increasingly used children, especially girls, as suicide bombers.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-attack-on-us-troops-at-al-tanf-in-southern-syria-2017-4" >ISIS fighters got inside the wire during a hellish firefight with US Special Ops in Syria</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-nigeria-thwarts-boko-haram-plan-to-attack-us-uk-embassies-2017-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/opec-oil-march-output-cuts-exceed-promise-2017-4OPEC is over-delivering on its pledgehttp://www.businessinsider.com/opec-oil-march-output-cuts-exceed-promise-2017-4
Tue, 11 Apr 2017 12:49:00 -0400Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/58ed076a77bb709d0a8b7b02-2400/undefined" alt="khalid al-falih saudi arabia opec" data-mce-source="Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters" data-mce-caption="Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih addresses a news conference after a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria, December 10, 2016."></p><p><span></span></p>
<p>OPEC states cut oil output in March by more than they pledged under supply curbs, according to figures the exporter group uses to monitor its supply, extending a record of higher-than-expected adherence to its first production cut in eight years.</p>
<p>The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut output by about 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months from Jan. 1 to prop up prices and reduce a glut. Russia and 10 other non-OPEC states agreed to cut half as much.</p>
<p>Production from the 11 OPEC members with output targets under the deal has averaged 29.757 million bpd, according to average assessments of secondary sources OPEC uses to monitor its output. The figures were seen by Reuters.</p>
<p>OPEC pledged to reduce output by the 11 countries to 29.804 million bpd. This means production has fallen by more than OPEC said it would and amounts to 104 percent adherence to the supply cut regime, according to an OPEC calculation.</p>
<p>"OPEC's compliance has been more than anticipated," an OPEC delegate said. "For non-OPEC, it is satisfactory and getting better."</p>
<p>The supply cut is supporting oil prices which are trading around $56 a barrel, up from $42 a year ago. But crude is still half the level it was at in mid-2014, with high inventories and rising U.S. production limiting gains.</p>
<p>Including Nigeria and Libya, the two members exempt from the deal to cut supply, output by all 13 OPEC members in March fell to 31.939 million bpd, two sources said. That would be down 19,000 bpd from OPEC's published February figure.</p>
<p>OPEC is scheduled to publish the assessment of March output based on secondary sources in its monthly oil market report on Wednesday. The figures could be revised before publication as more secondary-source estimates are added, OPEC sources said.</p>
<p>The 11 non-OPEC producers that joined the deal have not cut as much production, partly because of phased implementation of the agreement by Russia, the largest non-OPEC producer that is cooperating with the organization.</p>
<p><span>But compliance by OPEC and non-OPEC together is expected to rise in March from February's level of 94 percent, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq said on Monday.</span></p>
<p>OPEC uses two sets of figures to monitor its output -- figures provided by each country and those provided by secondary sources that include industry media. This is a legacy of old disputes over real production levels.</p>
<p>The production cut agreed last year was from levels as assessed by the secondary sources.</p>
<p>The six secondary sources used by OPEC are the International Energy Agency, oil-pricing agencies Platts and Argus, ‎the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), consultancy Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) and industry newsletter Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (PIW).</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>(Editing by Edmund Blair)</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/most-important-oil-players-ahead-of-opec-meeting-2017-3" >Meet OPEC's "7 agents of influence"</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/opec-oil-march-output-cuts-exceed-promise-2017-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-new-record-highs-2017-7">Stocks have shrugged off Trump headlines to hit new highs this week</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/most-important-oil-players-ahead-of-opec-meeting-2017-3OPEC's 7 'agents of influence' you need to pay attention tohttp://www.businessinsider.com/most-important-oil-players-ahead-of-opec-meeting-2017-3
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 15:28:07 -0400Elena Holodny
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/58d2a205d349f9290d8b561b-2313/undefined" alt="Khalid al-Falih" data-mce-source="Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters" data-mce-caption="Saudi Arabia's energy minister Khalid al-Falih adjusts his glasses during a news conference after a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria, December 10, 2016."></p><p>Markets often focus on day-to-day tumultuous headlines and data points as they look for clues about upcoming OPEC decisions.</p>
<p>But it’s also worth watching the key decision makers both in and out of the cartel as we approach the next OPEC meeting in May, during which producers will decide whether to extend the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/oil-price-november-30-analysis-and-opec-deal-2016-11">November output reduction agreement</a> for another six months.</p>
<p>In a recent report&nbsp;to clients, Helima Croft, the global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, put together a guide on oil's seven major "agents of influence" and their positions leading up to May's meeting. Her team also assigned them nicknames to explain their particular roles.</p>
<p>"In our view, domestic concerns will play a critical role, and many of the key decisions about whether to extend the deal will take place in palaces and the offices of presidents and prime ministers,” Croft wrote in the report.</p>
<p>Using her team's research, we outline the key players, their nicknames, and their positions.</p><h3>Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, Secretary General of OPEC</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/58d2a3add349f9cb778b5769-400-300/mohammad-sanusi-barkindo-secretary-general-of-opec.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>"The Diplomat"</strong></p>
<p>Mohammad Barkindo began his tenure as Secretary General of OPEC in August 2016, and has since actively worked to orchestrate&nbsp;cooperation within the cartel.</p>
<p>"If OPEC can be judged as getting its groove back last year, a lot of the credit goes to its savvy Secretary General," Croft wrote.</p>
<p>"Barkindo launched a veritable diplomatic blitzkrieg to craft a coalition in favor of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/oil-price-november-30-analysis-and-opec-deal-2016-11">November output agreement</a>; no small achievement given the intense <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-and-iran-conflict-bullish-for-oil-in-the-long-term-2016-1">regional rivalries</a> within the cartel and the multiple <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-normal-for-oil-after-failed-doha-meeting-2016-4">false starts</a> in 2016."</p>
<p>Looking forward, her team writes that it looks like Barkindo is ready to a "launch another diplomatic offensive" to keep the&nbsp;coalition together and build a strong case for keeping the cut.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Source: RBC Capital Markets</em></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), Saudi Deputy Crown Price, and Kahlid al-Falih, Saudi Energy Minister</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/58d2c520112f70d8628b49d9-400-300/mohammed-bin-salman-mbs-saudi-deputy-crown-price-and-kahlid-al-falih-saudi-energy-minister.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>"The Deciders"</strong></p>
<p>Saudi Arabia is the biggest oil producer in the OPEC cartel, meaning their views carry extra weight.</p>
<p>Saudi oil policy reversed course after Saudi Aramco technocrat Khalid al-Falih took over as energy minister, shifting from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-saudi-arabia-and-iran-aim-for-china-oil-market-share-2016-9">a market share strategy</a> to active market management. Arguably, this shift represents the kingdom's desire to gather public support and to establish a price environment conducive to achieving its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-reveals-new-vision-2030-plan-2016-4">Vision 2030 economic reform agenda</a>.</p>
<p>"While Saudi's support for the November agreement appeared shaky after al-Falih's CERA week complaints about compliance and US output, recent statements suggest the kingdom is still solidly committed to ensuring the deal's success and is open to an extension," she wrote.</p>
<p>"Saudi Arabia remains in the driver&rsquo;s seat and any deal would be dead in the water without it,&rdquo; she added.</p>
<p>Still, although markets closely follow al-Falih, it is ultimately MBS who has the final say as he pursues his policy priorities.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Source: RBC Capital Markets</em></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Alexander Novak, Russian energy minister, and Vladimir Putin, Russian President</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/58d2c88dd349f97b098b4fc8-400-300/alexander-novak-russian-energy-minister-and-vladimir-putin-russian-president.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>"The Wingmen"</strong></p>
<p>While not an OPEC member, Russia was an essential playing in the November production cut deal.</p>
<p>Back in 2015, Novak and Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin had publicly spoken&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-russia-opec-oil-output-2015-6">against</a> coordinating with OPEC. Moreover, Russia and the Saudis <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-vs-saudi-arabia-in-chinas-oil-market-2016-2">were&nbsp;competing&nbsp;for market share</a> in China.</p>
<p>But Russia's position would soon change. Fast forward to 2016, when Putin <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/crude-oil-prices-october-10-2016-2016-10">himself</a> came out in favor of coordinating with the cartel amid the continued <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-russia-saudi-arabia-oil-cooperation-matters-2016-9">corrosiveness of lower oil prices</a>. And <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-opec-meeting-idUSKBN13Q4WG">Reuters reported</a> that Putin played a "crucial role" as an intermediary between Iran and Saudi Arabia to get the OPEC deal done in November.</p>
<p>Although Russian compliance is below its stated goal &mdash; with about 160 thousand&nbsp;barrels per day cut compared to the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/oil-price-november-30-analysis-and-opec-deal-2016-11">agreed</a>&nbsp;upon 300 thousand&nbsp;&mdash; Novak says that Russia will meet the goal come April.</p>
<p>"While Novak has said that no decision on Russian support for rollover will be made for another month, we believe that Putin's interests will be ill served by another price plunge," Croft wrote. "Hence, we believe that Moscow will ultimately be in the continuation camp."</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Source: RBC Capital Markets</em></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/most-important-oil-players-ahead-of-opec-meeting-2017-3#/#jabbar-al-luiebi-iraqi-oil-minister-and-haider-al-abadi-iraqi-prime-minister-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/david-miliband-cut-foreign-aid-irc-refugee-2017-3DAVID MILIBAND: Now is the 'worst possible time' for the US to cut foreign aidhttp://www.businessinsider.com/david-miliband-cut-foreign-aid-irc-refugee-2017-3
Mon, 20 Mar 2017 17:38:00 -0400Nathaniel Lee, Lamar Salter and Emmanuel Ocbazghi
<p>President Donald Trump has released his "America First" budget proposal that revealed heavy cuts to foreign aid. David Miliband,&nbsp;the CEO of International Rescue Committee, explains why it is a&nbsp;bad idea for US to cut foreign aid.&nbsp;<span>Following is a transcript of the video.</span></p>
<p><em>At a time when there are global humanitarian crises, the demand us to step up our effort rather than to cut it back, this is the worst possible times to be cutting back on health, water and sanitation support for kids and women who are the victims of wars around the world, whether in Syria, or in South Sudan. There is a famine, the worst famine that the UN has seen since 1945 across Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and northeast Nigeria. So this is a terrible time for the US to be signaling that it's seeking to cut foreign aid budget that is already only 0.2% of US national income, less than 1% of the federal budget. Now is the time for congress, which is supposed to hold the purse strings to show its metal and defend the needs of some of the most vulnerable people in the world who have benefitted from American generosity, and who I know from my own experience, benefit from aid that is well targeted and well delivered.</em></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/david-miliband-cut-foreign-aid-irc-refugee-2017-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/nigerian-artist-uses-skin-as-a-canvas-2017-2This Nigerian artist uses skin as a canvashttp://www.businessinsider.com/nigerian-artist-uses-skin-as-a-canvas-2017-2
Thu, 02 Feb 2017 17:31:59 -0500Alana Yzola
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nigerian-artist-uses-skin-as-a-canvas-2017-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/senegalese-troops-say-theyll-cross-the-border-if-gambias-ousted-president-doesnt-step-down-2017-1Senegalese troops say they'll cross the border if Gambia's ousted president doesn't step downhttp://www.businessinsider.com/senegalese-troops-say-theyll-cross-the-border-if-gambias-ousted-president-doesnt-step-down-2017-1
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 16:26:37 -0500Tim Cocks
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/587fdc1af10a9a2a768b5cf0-2000/senegalesesoldiersduringexercise.jpg" alt="Senegalese army senegal military" data-mce-source="By Elsa Portillo, US Marine Corps" data-mce-caption="Senegalese soldiers enter a building during a training exercise." data-link="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8493173" /></p><p></p>
<p>Senegal's forces are at the Gambian border and will enter at midnight if the veteran president, Yahya Jammeh, refuses to relinquish power, the Senegalese army told Reuters on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Jammeh, who lost a Dec. 1 election to opposition leader Adama Barrow, says he will not step down, citing irregularities in the vote. His mandate is due to end at midnight (midnight GMT).</p>
<p>"We are ready and are awaiting the deadline at midnight. If no political solution is found, we will step in," said Colonel Abdou Ndiaye, speaking for the Senegalese army.</p>
<p>The Nigerian Air Force said it had deployed to Senegal in case it was needed. Nigeria is part of the West African bloc ECOWAS, which has threatened Jammeh with sanctions or military intervention if he does not step down.</p>
<p>Senegal's statement raised the prospect of armed confrontation between forces loyal to the president, who has ruled Gambia for 22 years, and Senegal, which surrounds the tiny riverside country on three sides.</p>
<p>Senegal circulated a draft resolution to the 15-member U.N. Security Council that would give "full support to the ECOWAS in its commitment to take all necessary measures to ensure the respect of the will of the people of The Gambia".</p>
<p>"The end has come. Accept it," Halifa Sallah, spokesman for Barrow, told a news conference in Banjul on Wednesday.</p>
<p>"The coalition did not want to go to power stepping over dead bodies," he said, at a beachside hotel surrounded by palm trees where a few tourists remained despite multiple travel warnings.</p>
<p>"What can make that possible is for the president to concede."</p>
<h2>Barrow to take oath</h2>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5820e35646e27a705a8b4741-2400" alt="Gambia President Yahya Jammeh and his wife Zineb Jammeh" data-mce-source="Larry Downing/Reuters" data-mce-caption="Republic of the Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh and his wife, Zineb Jammeh, arrive for the official U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit dinner hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington, August 5, 2014. African leaders on Tuesday called for a deeper economic relationship with the United States, hailing investment pledges totaling more than $17 billion at a Washington summit as a fresh step in the right direction." /></p>
<p>Sallah said Barrow, who is in Senegal, could not be sworn in at the national stadium, as originally planned, but that he would take the oath of office at an undisclosed place.</p>
<p>Diplomats said Barrow could be sworn in at the Gambian embassy in Senegal, which is technically part of Gambian territory.</p>
<p>Jammeh declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, while on Wednesday the National Assembly passed a resolution to enable him to remain in office for three months.</p>
<p>Gambia has had only two rulers since independence in 1965. Jammeh seized power in a coup and his government has gained a reputation among ordinary Gambians and human rights activists for torturing and killing opponents.</p>
<p>The draft, seen by Reuters, would endorse the decision of ECOWAS and the African Union to recognize Barrow. It also called on Gambia's security forces to protect lives and property and serve the elected authorities.</p>
<p>It was not immediately clear when Senegal planned to put the draft resolution to a vote. Some diplomats said U.N. Security Council approval was not needed for an ECOWAS military intervention if Barrow requested help.</p>
<p>Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz arrived in Gambia late on Wednesday for last-minute talks ahead of the deadline, Gambian state television said.</p>
<h2>Thousands flee</h2>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54bad3576da811953fce0922-2000" alt="gambia" data-mce-source="AP/Rebecca Blackwell" data-mce-caption="In this Friday, Sept. 22, 2006, file photo, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, center, leaves a central Banjul polling station after casting his vote for president in Banjul, Gambia." /></p>
<p>Few people expected Jammeh to lose the election, and the result was greeted with joy by many in his country, and by democracy advocates across the continent, particularly when Jammeh initially said he would accept the result and step down.</p>
<p>Barrow was examining the implications of the assembly's resolution and the state of emergency, given the constitutional requirement for a handover and the need to maintain peace, Sallah told Reuters.</p>
<p>Jammeh's decision to backtrack has unleashed turmoil, and at least eight ministers have resigned from his government.</p>
<p>At least 26,000 people have fled from Gambia to Senegal fearing unrest, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Wednesday, citing Senegalese government figures.</p>
<p>"Up until the night of the 16th there were 26,000 people ... The flow has increased sharply since then," said Helene Caux, regional information officer for the UNHCR. She said up to 80 percent were children accompanied by women.</p>
<p>"Senegal has informed us that they have the capacity to take in 50,000 refugees in the short term and is making plans to accept up to 100,000," Caux said.</p>
<p>Tour operator Thomas Cook &lt;TCG. L&gt; started flying nearly 1,000 holidaymakers home on Wednesday. It said on its website it was laying on extra flights in the next 48 hours to remove 985 package tour customers.</p>
<p>It was also trying to contact a further 2,500 "flight only" tourists in Gambia to arrange for their departure on the earliest available flight, it said in a statement.</p>
<p>Gambia's economy relies on one main crop, peanuts, and tourism. Its beaches are popular with European holidaymakers seeking a winter break.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/letter-khalid-sheikh-mohammed-delivered-white-house-2017-1" >A letter from the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks has been delivered to President Obama</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/senegalese-troops-say-theyll-cross-the-border-if-gambias-ousted-president-doesnt-step-down-2017-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-7-people-arya-stark-kill-list-game-of-thrones-hbo-deaths-prayer-2017-8">Here's everyone left on Arya Stark's kill list on 'Game of Thrones'</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/nigerian-air-force-strike-mistakenly-hits-refugee-camp-kills-at-least-100-2017-1Nigerian Air Force strike mistakenly hits refugee camp, kills at least 100http://www.businessinsider.com/nigerian-air-force-strike-mistakenly-hits-refugee-camp-kills-at-least-100-2017-1
Tue, 17 Jan 2017 13:12:26 -0500Haruna Umar and Bashir Adigun
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/587e5dbfee14b68f7b8b57c1-1066/nigerianairforcedassault-dornieralphajetiwelumo-1.jpg" alt="Nigerian Air Force Dassault Dornier Alpha Jet" data-mce-source="Kenneth Iwelumo" data-mce-caption="NAF Alpha Jet upgraded." data-link="http://www.airliners.net/photo/Nigeria---Air/Dassault-Dornier-Alpha-Jet/2110697/L/, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20577139" /></p><p>A Nigerian Air Force fighter jet on a mission against Boko Haram extremists mistakenly bombed a refugee camp Tuesday, killing more than 100 refugees and wounding aid workers, a Borno state official said. A Red Cross worker said 20 volunteers with the aid group had been killed.</p>
<p>The state government official, who was helping to coordinate the evacuation of wounded from the remote area by helicopters, spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.</p>
<p>Military commander Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor confirmed the accidental bombardment in northeast Rann, near the border with Cameroon.</p>
<p>This is believed to be the first time Nigeria's military has admitted to making such a mistake.</p>
<p>Among the wounded were two soldiers and Nigerians working for Doctors Without Borders and the International Committee of the Red Cross, Irabor said.</p>
<p>An ICRC employee told the AP that 20 Red Cross volunteers were among the dead. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to give information to reporters.</p>
<p>Doctors Without Borders said its team based in Rann had counted 50 bodies and treated 120 wounded. A statement from spokesman Etienne l'Hermitte urged authorities to facilitate land and air evacuations, saying, "Our medical and surgical teams in Cameroon and Chad are ready to treat wounded patients. We are in close contact with our teams, who are in shock following the event."</p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/57bc1750db5ce94b088b841a-768" alt="afp boko harams shekau wounded in air strike nigeria" data-mce-source="AFP" /></p>
<p>Irabor said he ordered the mission based on information that Boko Haram insurgents were gathering, along with geographic coordinates. It was too early to say if a tactical error was made, he said.</p>
<p>The general, who is the theater commander for counterinsurgency operations in northeast Nigeria, said the Air Force would not deliberately target civilians but there will be an investigation.</p>
<p>Villagers in the past have reported some civilian casualties in near-daily bombardments in northeastern Nigeria.</p>
<p>Some of the nearly 300 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 and freed last year have said three of their classmates were killed by Air Force bombardments, according to the freed girls' parents.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nigerian-air-force-strike-mistakenly-hits-refugee-camp-kills-at-least-100-2017-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/good-cholesterol-hdl-not-so-good-2017-7">We may have been wrong about ‘good’ cholesterol all this time</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/nigeria-military-jet-mistakenly-bombs-kills-refugees-2017-1NIGERIA: A military jet mistakenly bombed a refugee camp and killed more than 100 refugeeshttp://www.businessinsider.com/nigeria-military-jet-mistakenly-bombs-kills-refugees-2017-1
Tue, 17 Jan 2017 11:59:14 -0500Haruna Umar and Bashir Adigun
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/587e4cfcee14b61b008b86d4-1176/undefined" alt="Nigeria Niger Refugees" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde" data-mce-caption="Men, with belongings, proceed towards a bus loading point during an evacuation of Nigerian returnees from Niger, at a camp for displaced people in Geidam, Yobe state, Nigeria, May 6, 2015." /></p><p>MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) &mdash; A Nigerian state official says an Air Force fighter jet on a mission against Boko Haram extremists has mistakenly bombed a refugee camp, killing more than 100 refugees and wounding aid workers.</p>
<p>The Borno state government official is helping to coordinate the evacuation of wounded. The official spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to reporters.</p>
<p>Military commander Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor confirms the accidental bombardment in northeast Rann, near the border with Cameroon. The general says among the wounded are Nigerians working for Doctors Without Borders and the International Committee of the Red Cross.</p>
<p>This is believed to be the first time Nigeria's military has admitted to making such a mistake.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nigeria-military-jet-mistakenly-bombs-kills-refugees-2017-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/andew-zimmern-biggest-mistake-eating-steak-bizzare-foods-travel-channel-2017-7">The biggest mistake everyone makes when eating steak, according to Andrew Zimmern</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/nigeria-subs-taiwan-after-40-billion-pledge-from-china-2017-1After $40 billion pledge from China, Nigeria tells Taiwan's capital office to pack its bagshttp://www.businessinsider.com/nigeria-subs-taiwan-after-40-billion-pledge-from-china-2017-1
Thu, 12 Jan 2017 22:51:00 -0500Steven Porter
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/587805deee14b62a008b80a4-2400/ap17012487452215.jpg" alt="Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is welcomed by Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari." data-mce-source="Azeez Akunleyan/AP Photo" data-mce-caption="Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is welcomed by Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari." data-link="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Nigeria-China-Taiwan/13f88ca39a4149338e11ec54a320d5c3/1/0" /></p><p>On Wednesday, as&nbsp;China's foreign minister visited with a promise to invest another $40 billion in the country, Nigeria asked Taiwanese trade officials to move their representative office from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to Lagos, the commercial hub.</p>
<p>Nigeria's request reiterated its support for Beijing's "One China" policy,&nbsp;which demands that countries break official relations with Taiwan, as Beijing pulls economic levers in Africa and elsewhere <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-diplomacy-saotome-idUSKBN14C0KC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to woo nations away</a> from the island it regards as rebel-held territory within Chinese borders.</p>
<p>And since the US presidential election, President-elect Donald Trump has heightened tensions between the US and China by suggesting that his administration could reconsider nearly four decades of American support for "One China" &ndash; a provocation that some analysts say has spurred China's recent actions.</p>
<p>"The foreign ministry seriously objects and condemns the unreasonable actions by the Nigerian government," Taiwan said Thursday in a statement urging Nigeria to reconsider its decision.</p>
<p>After meeting Wednesday with his Chinese counterpart, Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said Taiwan would have no diplomatic representation whatsoever in Nigeria and that "a trade mission with a skeletal staff" would operate in Lagos, as state news agency NAN reported.</p>
<p>Nigeria would not be the first nation in recent weeks to snub Taiwan after meeting with Chinese officials. S&atilde;o Tom&eacute; and Pr&iacute;ncipe, an island nation off the west coast of Africa, decided last month to cut diplomatic ties with the island &ndash; an act Taiwan condemned as an "<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2016/1221/Sao-Tome-won-over-by-One-China-as-it-parts-diplomatic-ways-with-Taiwan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">abrupt and unfriendly decision</a>."</p>
<p>By switching its diplomatic recognition to China,&nbsp;S&atilde;o Tom&eacute; and Pr&iacute;ncipe&nbsp;left only two formal Taiwan allies in Africa. Globally, just 22 states formally recognize Taiwan.</p>
<p>Wang Kao-cheng, the dean of the Tamkang University College of International Studies in Taiwan, said Mr. Trump's comments on the "One China" policy &ndash; and other recent changes to the trilateral relationship among Taiwan, the US, and China &ndash; <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2016/12/22/2003661706" target="_blank" rel="noopener">might have triggered Beijing's efforts</a> in&nbsp;S&atilde;o Tom&eacute; and Pr&iacute;ncipe, as The Taipei Times reported.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/58639cfff10a9ac1348b5318-1062/undefined" alt="Taiwan Tsai Ing wen" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Tyrone Siu" data-mce-caption="Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen waves her hand as she boards the nation's first domestically built 500-ton Tuo Jiang twin-hull stealth missile corvette at Suao Naval Base in Yilan, Taiwan June 4, 2016." /></p>
<p>Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul and self-described dealmaker,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>recently spoke of US-China relations in business terms.</p>
<p>"I fully understand the 'One China' policy, but I don't know <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-china-idUSKBN1400TY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">why we have to be bound by a 'One China' policy</a> unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade," he told "Fox News Sunday" last month, as Reuters reports.</p>
<p>If he pushes too hard or too far, however, Trump's words and deeds could lead to a military confrontation, some US analysts warned.</p>
<p>"China is more likely to let the whole relationship with the United States deteriorate in order to show its resolve on the Taiwan issue," Jessica Chen Weiss, an associate professor of government at Cornell University and an expert in Chinese nationalism, told Reuters.&nbsp;"When the decision to end a decades-long practice is made with so little warning and clear communication, it raises the likelihood of misunderstanding and miscalculation and sets the stage for a crisis between the United States and China over Taiwan."</p>
<p>As a gesture of military might just this week, China sailed <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2017/0111/Why-did-China-just-send-an-aircraft-carrier-through-the-Taiwan-Strait" target="_blank" rel="noopener">its sole aircraft carrier</a>Wednesday through the Taiwan Strait.</p>
<p>The Global Times, an influential tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, said in an editorial that the "One China" policy is nonnegotiable and&nbsp;that Trump was "naive like a child on diplomacy" for suggesting otherwise, as Reuters reported.<strong>&nbsp;</strong>The paper said the Chinese mainland would launch "decisive new policies toward Taiwan" in due time.</p>
<p>"We will prove," it said, "that all along the United States has been unable to dominate the Taiwan Strait and Trump's desire to sell the 'one China' policy for commercial interests is a childish urge."</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nigeria-subs-taiwan-after-40-billion-pledge-from-china-2017-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/details-game-of-thrones-season-7-episode-4-hbo-jon-snow-daenerys-2017-8">8 details you might have missed on season 7 episode 4 of 'Game of Thrones'</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/will-the-opec-oil-deal-succeed-2016-125 countries that could destroy OPEC's game planhttp://www.businessinsider.com/will-the-opec-oil-deal-succeed-2016-12
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 12:56:00 -0500Osama Rizvi
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/58667a5df10a9a51098b5da4-659/undefined" alt="Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih (C) arrives for a meeting of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna, Austria, June 2, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister al-Falih arrives for a meeting of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna" /></p><p>As an apparent wave of populism sweeps through the world, Theresa May prepares to trigger Article 50, and fears&nbsp;of a trade war between China and the U.S grow, financial markets are on edge. But alongside this uncertainty, there has been some good news for markets as well, with oil markets moving towards rebalancing.&nbsp;The recent OPEC production cut agreement, and the additional cuts by non-OPEC countries&nbsp;caused oil prices to touch a post-2014 high. But Saudi Arabia and Russia, among other oil producers, are now in the limelight, as the world waits to see how true to the agreement each country will remain. Perhaps more important at this point are those countries who were never part of the agreement, or who were absolved from it.</p>
<p>One such country is Libya; its rising oil supply can easily offset the effect of the proposed production cut. Recently, oil exports from Libya's key oil terminals Es-Sider and Zueitina were resumed. This could bring 270,000 bpd back to the market, which is just a taste of how Libya, if peace prevails, could increase its production. The addition of 270,000 barrels alone accounts for almost a quarter of the OPEC production cut.</p>
<p>The second country is Iraq. Iraq fought hard to be exempted from any sort of cut or freeze, arguing that it needed money &ldquo;to fight ISIS&rdquo;, and while it eventually accepted a cut, the risk of this huge oil nation cheating on the deal is significant. Iraq&rsquo;s output has grown at an alarming rate this year and the recently signed a deal with Lukoil, the Russian energy giant, to tap into the <a href="http://thehimalayantimes.com/business/iraq-strikes-deal-with-lukoil-over-massive-oilfield/">West Qurna-2 reservoir</a>&nbsp;adds to the concerns.</p>
<p><span>Then there is Iran. Iran was not exempted from the deal but agreed to a production freeze at </span><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-30/opec-said-to-agree-oil-production-cuts-as-saudis-soften-on-iran">3.8 million</a><span> barrels per day. Like Iraq, Iran has also been busy signing deals with oil giants to ramp up its production. On December 7th Iran and Shell signed a </span><a href="http://www.rferl.org/a/shell-defying-us-president-elect-donald-trump-signs-deal-explore-oil-development-iran/28162815.html">deal</a><span> to explore three oil and gas fields. Saudi Arabia has always seen Iran as a rival, with Iran being the key reason that Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman refused to sign the deal as put forward earlier in the year. This time around things were different, and matters has grown increasingly serious for Saudi Arabia.</span></p>
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<p>The Kingdom had already borne the brunt of its decision in 2014 to not to cut production. We saw how the country&rsquo;s masses, accustomed to government largesse in the shape of subsidies, extravagant pay and the leisure of not working, turned against the country&rsquo;s gerontocracy when pay was slashed, holidays curtailed and subsidies removed. Also, the Foreign Exchange reserves of the Saudis were being depleted at an unprecedented rate. These factors explain the display of flexibility by the Kingdom at the Vienna conference on the 30th of December. On the other hand, prospects for Iran are just opening up after the Obama administration signed the controversial nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. As the sanctions are being lifted gradually from Iran, it&nbsp;now sees the whole world opening up as a potential market - a temptation that may prove very hard to resist.</p>
<p>The Putin Factor: The appointment of Mr. Rex Tillerson as secretary of State and the various insinuations by the President-elect to lift sanctions could be symptomatic of greater production from Russia. Russia has recently claimed that it will beat 2016&rsquo;s estimated oil production total of <a href="https://sputniknews.com/russia/201612261048995240-russia-oil-export/">253 million tons</a> in 2017.</p>
<p><em>"Supposedly 253.5 [million tonnes of oil are expected to be exported from Russia] this year, which is 4.8 percent more than in 2015. In 2017, we will have a little more than this,"</em> Molodtsov said.</p>
<p>Finally, Nigeria. As of now it is busy fighting Boko-Haram and attempting to strike some kind of political deal with the Niger Delta Avengers. Exempted from the oil deal, its production stands around 1.6 mbpd. President Buhari has <a href="http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Post-OPEC-Deal-Nigeria-Plans-To-Increase-Oil-Output-By-500000-Bpd.html">vowed</a> to increase the production to 2.2mbpd, a statement that&nbsp;will not be welcomed by fellow OPEC producers.</p>
<p>If any of these countries do significantly increase production, then the euphoria that has yet to reach its peak may begin to fade.</p>
</div><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/outsourcing-philippines-middle-class-2016-12" >How outsourcing transformed the Philippine middle class</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/will-the-opec-oil-deal-succeed-2016-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/whats-inside-pimple-pus-bacteria-acne-2017-8">All the nasty things inside a pimple — and why you should stop popping them</a></p>